Roles and responsibilities

Adequate consultations with local populations throughout the project cycle are a must especially when land ownership is ambiguous and no outstanding land compensation cases are identified.Local populations forcibly entered the two HPP project sites demanding compensation for historical events, in one of which sites, violence was used. The historical events were not identified by due diligence, which concluded that there were no land acquisition and involuntary resettlement impacts.

Early engagement with provincial governments can contribute to identifying and avoiding delays due to land acquisition issues. Based on the experience of forcible entry by local communities into two HPP sites, new projects are emphasizing the role of social safeguards and early consultation of local populations. The positive experience of engaging with the provincial government, which contributed to the eventual delivery of the Divune HPP under tranche 1, can serve as a lesson for future projects.

Too many implementing agencies completing too many policy actions, make progam coordination very difficult.

The choice of executing agency (EA) is critical to project success. The Minifstry of Finance, the project EA, provided strong leadership and was able to engage the private sector efficiently. Its broad, multisector overview of the economy helped ensure relevant outcomes from the project, and its central ministerial position facilitated effective coordination across multiple ministries.

Using well-established and reputable industry associations as primary implementing partner for training rather than directly contracted training providers is a strategically sound decision for scaling up sector-specific, job-ready training. The industry associations already had a working knowledge of the skills gaps and needs in their respective industries, which reduced the time needed to develop programs and deliver industry-required skills courses. Job placement was also made easier thus facilitating the attainment of the performance indicators.

Overlooking coordination could lead to project delays. Interagency coordination. The project had a good coordination mechanism within the water resources sector. Interagency coordination is needed when implementing social and environmental safeguards; in removing electricity poles (electricity utilities); in cutting trees (forest departments); and in land allotment, resettlement housing sites, and cash compensation payments (district administrations).

Proper location of the project management unit is crucial to smooth implementation. Daily coordination and supervision were initially undertaken across two distant sites: the construction implementation unit (UIP) in East Kalimantan and the project implementation consultant in West Kalimantan. This caused coordination difficulties on implementation issues arising from the field. In 2016, UIP West Kalimantan was made in charge of project management. This improved project management and coordination, making implementation smoother for the rest of the project duration.

The DMF missed some essential data that were important in
measuring project effectiveness. As this was a follow-up project, both executing
agency and ADB should have had up-to-date data and information. To avoid such
issues, ADB needs to make a rigorous assessment of the institutional
arrangements, and database benchmarks in the case of long-term commitments
and preparation of additional follow-on projects.